It’s another day and another look at NHL Rumours. With March 8th approaching very soon, more and more rumours continue to rise. One team that has drawn some attention this trade deadline is the Carolina Hurricanes. They have the pieces to make some noise in the playoffs but questions still remain if they are a piece or two away from winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in team history. Most of the rumours lately focus on the Hurricanes search for a goal-scoring forward. And we remain there again today.
NHL Rumours
Carolina Hurricanes
Rumour: Elliotte Friedman mentioned the possibility that Carolina could land Vladimir Tarasenko after missing out on him in the summer.
As a specific target in this season’s trade deadline forward pool, the Carolina Hurricanes have at least at one point shown interest in Vladimir Tarasenko. Over the summer, reports surfaced that the Russian goal-scoring winger was signing as a free agent with the Hurricanes. However, things quickly changed and he ended up signing a one-year deal with the Ottawa Senators. But as Friedman mentioned, with Tarasenko on the trading block, would the Hurricanes still be interested?
We previously took a look at different forwards that Carolina might be eyeing and included Tarasenko in that list. There’s no secret as to what type of player you get in Tarasenko. He is a goal-scoring forward who has hit the 30-goal mark multiple times in his career and the 40-goal mark once. One season he ended with 39 goals as well. So far this season he has 17 goals and 24 assists on a struggling Senators team. This includes two goals and six assists on the power play. When comes to helping put the puck in the net, this is where Tarasenko stands.
Does This Make Sense for Carolina?
Even though Tarasenko has slowed down some from his prime years, he still is a lethal goal-scoring threat. He has 116 shots on net this year and isn’t afraid to be a shoot-first player. While he may not be a 100% perfect fit for Carolina, he definitely will provide them with a shooter that they have been searching for. He can play on either of the top two lines and provide that additional scoring threat. Carolina has typically shown very strong defence, even in the playoffs, but seem to run dry when their scoring gets cold. Bringing in a player of Tarasenko’s calibre would certainly help in that department.
However, as Friedman also mentioned, Carolina does not want to pay a premium for a rental and Tarasenko will be a UFA after this year. With many teams likely pushing for Tarasenko, the price for him will not be cheap. Carolina has plenty of their own UFAs to sign after this year and adding a true rental doesn’t seem like something they would do. Especially for high-quality or a high quantity of assets. But, is this a move the Carolina Hurricanes would change their plan for? Or do they focus on someone else if the price is too high? It seems like the latter is more likely but time will tell.
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